Abby McCloskey, Dallas Morning News, August 14, 2023

“My purpose here is not about efficacy or recommending a policy change. It’s to express, as many parents have before and will continue to after me, the deep weight and heavy sadness of raising children in a generation with historic gun violence.

In simpler times, my parents drilled hiding under desks for Soviet atomic bombs (another questionable strategy), but thankfully, they never fell. Our kids know gun violence happens in real life. My 8-year-old and 5-year-old, whom I adore, will ask why they have these backpacks as I'm moving over their Lego, cactus, and shark keychains. I’ll say something that’s true but not the whole truth. But kids talk.

Something about the clear backpacks is an everyday reminder that the threat could be anywhere. It’s not those Cold War soldiers; it’s us, it’s each other. That is heavy and dark in a new way for our country and those raising families in it.

This year, Pew Research did a survey about Parenting in America. Mental health topped the list of concerns, affecting all but a small sliver of parents. Nearly half of parents were extremely to somewhat worried about their child being shot.”